


Breakable

by De_Marvel_Bunny



Series: Whumptober 2019 [9]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Howard Stark's Bad Parenting, Hurt Tony Stark, M/M, Pre-Slash, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Sacrificing Tony Stark, Steve Rogers Is a Good Bro, Tony Angst, Tony Stark Angst, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Gets a Hug, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Has Self-Esteem Issues, Tony Stark Needs Sleep, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Still Has Arc Reactor, Tony Stark-centric, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-27 15:08:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20950409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/De_Marvel_Bunny/pseuds/De_Marvel_Bunny
Summary: Tony works himself into the ground. Steve is there to catch him.





	Breakable

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kcusllay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kcusllay/gifts), [The_Sad_Fangirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Sad_Fangirl/gifts).

_"Iron Man, you've got inbound,"_ Tony heard Clint's voice through his earpiece. Tony swiftly dodged the incoming threat, blasting the source. 

"Thanks, Katniss," he responded offhandedly, already distracted by something else. He blew up another robot, receiving a grateful nod from Nat before she ran off to fight more. Tony sighed. The city was flooded with robots, and he had to admit it broke his heart just a little every time he blew one up. Regardless, he showed the little creatures no mercy, intent on finishing this mission as soon as possible. He was drowning in SI work, and he really needed to get back to it. This mission was a distraction he really didn't need.

He winced when he heard Nat's widow bites crackle unnaturally.

"Tony-"

"Yeah, I heard it," Tony cut her off, already knowing what she'd say. "I'll fix it."

He mentally added the widow bites to his ever-growing list.

"Hey, Tones," Clint started, and Tony resisted the urge to groan. He knew what was coming.

"Drop it in the shop when we get back, I'll fix it," he butted in, groaning as he got a particularly nasty hit in the side by one of the bigger robots. Irritated, he blasted it maybe a bit too hard and the thing went flying. Luckily, the crowds of robots was thinning out quickly, and within another twenty minutes they were finished. He touched down next to his captain, stumbling slightly when it irritated his already hurting side.

"I'm gonna go, Things to do, places to be and all that jazz..." Tony stated, about to fly off. He was stopped when someone from damage control grabbed him by the arm -which, _rude_, by the way- and effectively blocked his escape.

"Mr. Stark, I'd like you to please have a look at these things. This isn't the first time they've shown up, although never in this quantity. I would like to know what they are, where they came from."

It was phrased politely enough but Tony knew better than that. He might as well have threatened his life. He sighed dejectedly.

"Yeah, I'll- I'll take a look at it," he sighed.

"Good. I expect results by tomorrow." With that, the man walked off. Tony sighed in barely contained frustration.

"Right-o. I'll see you back home, Cap," he saluted the man before flying off. Cap shook his head as he watched him go, signing to Clint to ready the jet before hopping in.

"Where's Stark?" Clint asked.

"He's not coming," Steve answered shortly. "Let's go." Clint shook his head and closed the doors, quickly taking off towards the sky.

* * *

Tony touched down, his suit disassembling around him. He winced at the stinging sensation in his side, limping towards his workstation and collapsing in the chair he rarely used. He sighed, watching the pile of work on his desk with a bit of disgust but mostly desperation. There was too much to do and not enough time to do it. He rubbed his hands over his face tiredly. No sleep for him tonight.

Clint entered, as always, through the vents, dropping down gracefully. It would've been impressive had he not tripped over his own feet right after. Tony fixed him with an unimpressed look. Clint grinned at him innocently as he jumped back on his feet.

"Heya, Stark. So, my bow broke, and I kind of need it tomorrow. I mean, don't get me wrong, the spare one's good too, but it doesn't have the new upgrades and I'd rather it did, so..."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll fix it, don't worry. Now skedaddle, I've got work to do." Tony whisked him away. Clint jumped up, trying to reach the vents and falling on his ass.

"You know what, I'll just... use the door."

Tony rolled his eyes, turning towards the pile of work on his desk. He'd look at his side later. For now, he had work to do.

* * *

The next morning Clint came down to the workshop again, finding the engineer neck-deep in his work. He didn't even notice the archer dropping a bit too loudly onto the floor, busy with at least three works at the same time. Clint had to admit, even though the genius looked disheveled, his clothes dirty and crinkled, his hair sticking up at weird angles, presumably from running his hands through it multiple times, and empty coffee cups littered about the desk and floor. There was a notable absence of loud music, soft piano tunes emitting from the speakers instead.

"Hey, Stark," Clint called, clapping the engineer on his shoulder. Tony flinched hard, almost losing his footing as he recoiled. He quickly steadied himself against his desk, his hand on his heart.

"Barton, please. I have a heart condition!" Tony called, a little out of breath. Clint huffed.

"That's a bit of an overstatement, don't you think? Now, where's my bow?" He said distractedly, already searching for his beloved weapon.

_Overstatement, _Tony thought. _Overstatement?! I have a literal metal battery in my chest, but sure, call it an overstatement._

He voiced none of that, however, mutely handing the archer his newly fixed weapon. Clint raised an eyebrow at his lack of witty remarks but didn't comment, shooting him a wink and a lazy salute.

"Good. Well, see you." He waved, turning around and walking out the door.

"You're welcome," Tony muttered softly after he'd left, trying not to let the lack of gratefulness get to him. He didn't quite succeed. Sighing, he turned back to his work, rubbing at his eyes tiredly. He was getting a bit lightheaded, not only from exhaustion but also the wound in his side he'd neglected to tend to. JARVIS had been bugging him about it, so he'd muted him. He had to admit, he was getting a bit lonely without him. But it was nothing another cup of coffee couldn't fix.

The whole day Tony didn't stop working. He was drowning in paperwork, unfinished projects and deadlines, and the persistent texts from Pepper about the paperwork she needed to be finished by today wasn't helping his growing headache. Even the gentle piano tunes playing softly through the lab's speakers didn't help. Natasha had come in earlier to promptly grab her finished widow bites and slither away. Tony had barely even noticed her. That didn't mean it hadn't stung a bit, though, when she'd left without a “Thank you”. Though, Tony supposed, he was used to that.

Once he'd finished Pepper's paperwork, he decided a brake wasn't a bad idea. He groaned when he got up, momentarily having forgotten about the wound in his side. He figured it wouldn't kill him to wait with patching it up until after he'd gotten some nutrients in. When he'd finally manged to hobble up to the kitchen, though, he realized it was already getting dark out. And he still had that stupid robot to figure out.

A sudden wave of panic rushed over him at the thought of not having a project finished in time, disappointment and self-hate swirling in his chest. What would Howard say? With that thought, he quickly got back down to the lab, food and care forgotten. Quickly, he got set on the robot.

Once he was finished he had JARVIS, who was finally unmuted, send it to whoever the hell wanted it in the first place and collapsed down on his chair. He heaved a heavy sigh, his headache returning full-force now that he didn't have anything to distract himself with. 

"Sir," JARVIS called softly. "I believe Captain Rogers wants to speak to you."

"Tell him to bring it down to the lab, I'll fix it," Tony responded offhandedly. JARVIS was silent for a moment as he relayed the message.

"Sir, Captain Rogers is inviting you over for lunch," the AI reported.

"Lunch?" Tony asked, confused. Surely it couldn't have been _that_ long...

"It's 1 PM, Sir," JARVIS explained, his voice sounding slightly disappointed. "It seems you have been awake for 49 hours. I would advise you to eat something and then get some sleep. And, of course, take care of that wound." Tony rolled his eyes at his AI's mother-henning.

"I'm fine, JARVIS, stop wining," Tony groaned, pushing himself up to walk out of his lab, if only just to show JARVIS that he was _fine_. 

However, as soon as he stood up, the world began spinning, his head feeling far too light and yet heavy at the same time. He lost his balance, his vision rapidly darkening. He could feel himself hitting the desk before falling down, but he was already unconscious before he hit the ground.

That's how Steve found him moments later when JARVIS had informed him the genius needed help. He walked down to the workshop, expecting to find a petulant man-child he had to drag upstairs. What he hadn't expected was for the door to swing open for him and to find the man sprawled out on the floor on his back, out cold. He allowed himself to sigh heavily in slight despair before gently lifting the smaller man up, cradling the genius to his chest, intent on taking him to the medical wing to get checked out before tucking him in and making sure he slept for at least ten hours.

If Tony wasn't going to take care of himself, Steve decided, he would do it for him.

**Author's Note:**

> I never know how to end these things but it was getting late so here you go.
> 
> Comments and kudos make me happy :)


End file.
